[2] As well as marking the headland, the lighthouse was intended to help guide vessels into the Cockle Gat, which provided the northern entry into the safe water of Yarmouth Roads.

[7] Prior to the establishment of a lighthouse, it is thought that a light to guide shipping was displayed from the 15th-century tower of Holy Trinity and All Saints' Church in the village.

[10] Thenceforward, the Corporation (who later claimed to have erected a light at Winterton as early as 1613) engaged in a long series of disputes with Erskine and Meldrum and their successors over rights and fees, in what has been described as 'a muddled, bitter and confusing story which lasted from 1616 to 1685'.

In addition to the main lighthouse, which stood just to the east of the village, Erskine and Meldrum had set up a separate pair of leading lights a mile and three-quarters to the north, on Winterton Ness.

[18] The Small Light was deemed unnecessary following the establishment of a pair of lighthouses at Happisburgh, some 10 miles (16 km) up the coast, and it was therefore decommissioned on 1 January 1791.

[19] The Ness Lights remained operational in the early nineteenth century, but by this time the surrounding shoals and channels had altered significantly.

[22] It was described in 1848 as 'on an eminence south-east of the village […] a lighthouse of late erection, an hexagonal tower seventy feet high, lighted with patent argand lamps and reflectors'.

[24] James Douglass designed a new lighthouse for Winterton shortly after being appointed Engineer-in-Chief at Trinity House in 1863, and subsequently oversaw its construction.

[28] The following year, the lantern having been removed, the lighthouse was sold at auction by Trinity House (along with 5 acres (2.0 ha) of gardens and pasture, and 'some serviceable buildings') for £1,550 to a buyer from London, to serve as a summer residence.

[30] In 2012 the observation deck was replaced by a more lighthouse-like steel and glass lantern room with a domed roof,[31] As well as being a private home, the Lighthouse is available to rent for short-term stays.